 Anti-torture exhibition |
 Practitioners demonstrating the exercises |
 Practitioners and their attorney hold a press conference |
News and Events from Around the World
-- November 16, 2005
Issued by Clearwisdom Net
|
"President Bush must bring up the Falun Gong in his public meetings with President Hu Jintao and China's leaders, and call for, in unambiguous terms, an end to the suppression. General remarks about 'human rights' send the wrong message. It is imperative China's leadership hear in strong terms that what they are doing to Falun Gong is unacceptable and needs to stop," said Falun Gong spokesperson Erping Zhang on Friday.
In the past five years the persecution of Falun Gong and other faith groups in China has continued and, in many cases, even worsened. During Bush's time in office the number of documented Falun Gong deaths from torture and abuse in custody has risen from 640 to 2780. Documented cases of torture have grown from a few hundred to over 44,000. Hundreds of thousands--possibly millions--of Falun Gong languish in China's gulags as prisoners of conscience. Adherents are stripped of their legal rights, and laws have been rewritten to justify their mistreatment. The Chinese regime's attempt to "smash" and "eradicate" Falun Gong and any of the 70 million plus who continue to practice it has been labeled by leading human rights attorneys a program of "genocide."
The U.S. Department of State said in its Annual Report on International Religious Freedom, released last week, that the Chinese government has made renewed calls to "expand and deepen its battle" against the Falun Gong and similar groups, and that "credible reports of torture and deaths in custody" continue.
Falun Gong reportedly was not included in Bush's previous discussions with Hu, nor with China's former ruler Jiang Zemin, who visited Bush's Crawford, Texas, ranch in 2001.
In a recent TV interview Bush said of China's Hu that, "he's made some very positive statements, and interesting statements about different aspects of freedom."
"We don't doubt that Hu is willing to make 'interesting' or even 'positive' statements about freedom. What matters is whether he will act on those. Right now tens of millions who practice Falun Gong are being denied their rights to belief, assembly, speech, the press, and even legal representation. This, the facts, is what we hope Bush will deal with on his trip," Zhang commented. "And the facts aren't so rosy."
Indicators suggest that a growing rift exists at the upper echelon of China's leadership surrounding the treatment of Falun Gong, pitting former leader Jiang Zemin, who launched the suppression, against the newer Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao administration. Several analysts have offered that Jiang is pressuring Hu to carry out Jiang's Falun Gong policy, even as disapproval mounts.
"Bush is in position to do a great deal of good on this trip," said Zhang. "Hu needs to hear Falun Gong named, explicitly, by world leaders like Bush. He needs to be reminded to do what is right, however difficult, and act in China's best interest."
"Millions of Falun Gong in China are bearing the weight of tremendous suppression to uphold freedom, a value the President has spoken much about. With but a few words Bush can give millions cause for hope."
Last Thursday, 21 members of the United States Congress wrote to the President, asking that he express Congress' "grave concern regarding the lack of progress in China to protect human rights." The members asked Bush to call upon Hu to "Stop the use of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment" and "End the persecution of Falun Gong in China and abroad, and release Falun Gong practitioners from detention."
The U.S. Congress has passed several resolutions calling for an end of this persecution and has asked President Bush on various occasions to speak out on the issue.
# # #
PRESS
RELEASE - Nov. 13, 2005
Falun Dafa Information Center, www.faluninfo.net
From November 10 to 11 in Tottori, the Japan Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA) held its 48th convention on the protection of human rights. Nearly 2000 human rights lawyers attended the convention. On November 10, they hosted a forum that was open to public. It was estimated that several thousand people attended the forum, including lawyers and the general public. Practitioners held an anti-torture exhibition outside the convention, and with banners and posters exposed the ongoing persecution in China and told people about Falun Gong. They also demonstrated the Falun Gong exercises and sent forth righteous thoughts. They called on the lawyers and the public to pay close attention to the ongoing tragedy in China and the lawsuits against the chief perpetrator of the persecution Jiang Zemin and other accomplices, including the Chinese Embassy in Japan.
Anti-torture exhibition |
Practitioners demonstrating the exercises |
Practitioners and their attorney hold a press conference |
A lawyer who attended the convention said that the persecution is wrong and he supported the lawsuits against Jiang and other high-ranking Chinese Communist Party officials. He commented that China had no freedom of expression or belief, as during his visit to China he ran into a number of Chinese who didn't even know that former Chinese President Liu Shaoqi had been persecuted to death. The lawyer said that he would definitely read the "Nine Commentaries on Chinese Communist Party."
Falun Gong practitioner Yoko Kaneko participated in the torture reenactment during the exhibit. She said that she wanted to let the Japanese people know that such brutal persecution is still happening in China. Having experienced torture in China for appealing for justice for Falun Gong, she knows the suffering of practitioners in China and wants to take every opportunity to call on the public to pay attention to this unprecedented persecution.
At 4:30 p.m. on November 10, some practitioners and their Osaka attorney held a press conference at the Tottori County Reporters Club. They detailed how Japanese practitioners had been persecuted by the Chinese regime, including entry denial, passport renewal cancellation, arrest during family visits and intimidation.
Yoko Kaneko recounted her experience in a Chinese forced labor camp. During the one and a half years of detention, she was subjected to the "dead-person's bed," force-feeding, and other abuse. She also took the opportunity to thank the public and the international community for rescuing her.
On November 7, 2005, after attending the 2005 Asian and Pacific Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference, Falun Gong practitioners from Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand went to Melaka, a famous tourist attraction in Malaysia, to introduce Falun Dafa and clarify the truth.
Tourists passing by were shocked by photos depicting the brutal
persecution
of Falun Gong practitioners in China. One after another, tourists
stopped to
view the posters.
Melaka is known as an historic city. After the Melaka Dynasty, it was ruled by Portugal, Holland and England for about 500 years. Priceless historic heritages were left in each era of Melaka, which allowed later generations to understand the lives of the ancient people. The historic stories very interesting. For example, Zheng He's seven voyages to the Western Seas, the marriage of Princess Han Libao from the Ming Dynasty in Melaka, two Malaysian heroes' fight for their lives, the war between Portugal and Holland, and the Chinese people's immigration history of tears and blood--all these historical records move people's hearts and attract many tourists, and in particular, Chinese people.
 Practitioners demonstrate the second set of Falun Gong exercises - Falun Standing Stance |
 Explaining the facts of the persecution to Chinese tourists |
 Handing out truth-clarifying materials |
More than 100 Falun Gong practitioners took the opportunity to tell tourists about the persecution of Falun Gong that is taking place in China. In particular, practitioners hoped to help tourists from China learn the truth so that they would not be misled by the lies and have a correct understanding about Falun Gong.
In the beginning of 1999, there were only two or three Falun Gong practitioners in Melaka. Later, many people came to learn and practice Falun Gong. However, after the Chinese communist regime started suppressing Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, people dared not learn and practice Falun Gong because they were afraid of being harassed or persecuted by the Chinese communist regime, and some were misled by the regime's deceptive propaganda. Starting from the beginning of 2000, Falun Gong practitioners from greater Malaysia drove several hours to Melaka during the busy travel season to clarify the truth with local practitioners, so as to end the unprecedented persecution as soon as possible.
On normal holidays, only two or three practitioners clarified the truth in Melaka. This was the first time more than 100 practitioners gathered in Melaka to practice the Falun Gong exercises together. Upon seeing the peaceful practice and listening to practitioners' explanations, local citizens started to have new understandings about Falun Gong.
